A/N: New chapter, at long last. Does anyone still care? No? Figured.

Unbetaed.


One year had gone by.

It had been a whirlwind of a year, rushing through without notice almost. The whole team had been working tirelessly into getting their findings from their expedition to the Land of the Dragons recognized by their scientific peers, as well as having a few other expeditions going on – both with the whole team or in smaller groups.

Lectures had been given, debates had been had, books had been published.

It seemed as if too long had past – given the amount of work done, no-one was surprised by that – but at the same time it felt as if they'd just left those golden sands a week previously. Every now and then someone would mention that in their weekly dinners – which were held just for the team and didn't have anything to do with the front they had to present – and everyone would go back, recall the strangeness of the fact.

It was funny yet saddening.

And, silently, Gray missed Natsu.

He missed the damn dragonslayer immensely.

It felt as if he had lost a part of himself. A part that first had been dormant but that had been awakened sometime among the golden sands and stifling heat – only to be left behind. Dejectedly.

So, it didn't help Gray be in his best shape for some of the time, he'd noticed the looks of concern shared by his friends but had been quick to reassure them. He did go on the expeditions and the whole circus that had surrounded them didn't affect him too much but he noticed his own lack of energy.

Thankfully Juvia had been there for him. She'd been invaluable, always sitting with him, letting her shyness be pushed aside so that she could debate one or another combat tactic and being quick to take the conversation in a whole different route when she noticed that Gray was losing himself in melancholy thoughts.

She'd become a good friend, a really close one. And Gray was thankful for that.

She kept him from having thoughts about warm hands, a familiar voice in his ear, a sense of belonging…


It was unexpected when it arrived.

The day had begun grey and rainy; not many wanting to be outside in the rain and sharp wind.

It was a day where the whole team had decided to reunite at Lucy's and the course of action to an expedition they were planning was to be decided. There was fire crackling happily on the hearth, emitting some much needed warmth, as the group of friends were sitting on the floor, in fluffy rugs. There were pages spread through the whole space while steaming mugs of tea sat nearby. Words were being both scribbled in notebooks and thrown out, conversations stopping or descending into an argument.

There were too many contradictory feelings in regards to both the history and security of trying to tackle this new expedition.

But, everything stopped as the bell rung.

Lucy made everyone shut up before answering the door.

Sour looks were shared, hasty sips taken from mugs and more words scribbled. Everyone was waiting for Lucy's return so that the argument could continue. What no-one expected was the squeal she let out.

Before any of the friends could so much as stand, Lucy ran through the doors, overly excited and waving something in her hand.

"It's here!" She said, finally calming down a little.

"Huh?" That was the general reaction, followed by, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Levy's letter!" Lucy started waving the thing she had in her right hand before deciding to stop and open it. "She was supposed to say something earlier but," the envelope was ripped open, "I guess she was too busy? Or too excited learning new things that we didn't have the time to…"

Her mouth fell open and a general sense of anxiety seemed to run through everyone.

"What is it?" Erza finally broke the silence, curtly and demanding a reply.

"Levy… Levy's going to get married!" Lucy shouted and then started giggling.

"What? Let me see." Loke took the letter from Lucy's hand and started reading. "Hey everyone, I hope everything's going well with you, I've been told you've been on more adventures and have contributed more to the knowledge. I also heard that if the scientific snobs haven't said anything yet it's because they're probably jealous… you do remember the story of the walnut." Loke paused and glanced up at his friends. Everyone shared a huge smile which became laughter moments later. "Then she tells us what she's been up to and, oh, okay. So, as you might have expected, I've stayed here for a reason and, after one year of intense learning and quite a few battles fought – most have been won – I have good news. I'm getting married! Can you imagine? We're so happy!"

At this, everyone let out excited noises, talked at the same time, Lucy squealed a little more as she threw herself at Loke who just patted her as he brushed his lips against her temple. Lucy's arms circled his neck.

"Hey, let's settle down, okay? Come on." Loke ordered, everyone complying. "Next she says that we are more than welcome to go back to the Land of Dragons to attend her wedding. Apparently it's going to be according to their tradition or something of the sort, Lucy!, and of course that we have to be there for her. She misses us a lot. I could read the whole thing out loud but I think that it might be better for everyone to read it." With this he handed out the letter to Erza. "I think that the date for the wedding overlaps with the expedition."

"Oh, who cares about this expedition? We're going to see Levy again!" Lucy nearly yelled on his ear.

"This means that the team will have more time with the dragonslayers." Juvia said suddenly, head tilted down as she carefully grabbed her mug. By the corner of her eye she was taking in Gray's reaction to the letter.

"I don't see why that would be a bad thing?" Erza countered evenly.

"I think it'll be great to see Levy again… and the others." Gray said evenly as he handed out the letter to Juvia. "As for the expedition, we still have time, it's not a big problem if we postpone it."

"But the people from the Royal School of Sciences were counting on my article…" Lucy mused distractedly before catching herself, excitement pinking her cheeks. "Yeah, it doesn't matter. We can do it later. Now, we must prepare to see Levy again!"

"I wonder how she adapted to the environment…" Erza uncrossed her legs and leaned back against the sofa she was resting against.

"I bet she's super tan now." Loke added as he dragged Lucy to sit back in their previous spots.

"Oh no, I bet she was like a lobster at the beginning." Lucy muttered as she started to grab and put the papers before her in some order.

"Juvia thinks that maybe it wasn't like that. Levy didn't seem to react badly while we were there. But Juvia doesn't think she could handle being in that place for so long. It's too…" she shuddered momentarily, "dry." She handed Lucy the letter once again.


Gray couldn't stop smiling.

Ever since the letter had arrived, it felt as if he'd swallowed a star, he was feeling so full of happiness and hope.

But hope? Hope about what?

He wouldn't exactly call it hope. Probably. No, it was just that seeing Natsu again made everything shinny again.

The bleakness that had been engulfing his world was no more because he was going back and he was going to see him once again.

Did he miss me? he couldn't help wondering.

Not that he was only happy to go back to that place so that he could see Natsu. No. He was deeply happy for Levy for having found her place, the person she wanted to share her life with and how to do it. Granted, she had changed a big number of things from her life but she was happy – and that was what mattered. Also, knowing Levy, she'd been thinking about it for a long time and so, no wonder she was so sure.

When he was alone in his home, a rare occurrence nowadays since Juvia was constantly there, Gray did wonder how he would act if given the chance…

Could he handle braving the desert and the dryness and the dangers? Losing the freedom he knew to be confined to that large and mostly hostile land?

It seemed like his heartsickness over Natsu that made him unable to sleep was gone. Sadly it had been replaced with Gray wondering and going through a number of suppositions and "what if"'s.

In the end, Gray was still tired but at least now there was a spring in his step, his confidence and some of his usual countenance back to him.


With all the buzz surrounding the return to the Land of the Dragons amidst the group of friends, everyone failed to notice how Juvia didn't seem to be sharing their happiness.

She did smile and act politely during the plans to the trip but the downturn of her mouth or the heavy mien she now sported constantly went completely unnoticed.


They returned to the boarder, the lessening of the vegetation was a sure sign that they were getting closer to the so familiar place.

Lucy was holding the map with one hand and the reins with the other, humming distractedly.

"We're almost there." She said at long last.

"Yes."

"It's about time."

"Hey, I think I can see them!" Erza said and pointed.

And, there they were.

Not the three figures from before, like in a déjà vu, but now they were four. And they'd seen them already.

The team hurried towards them.

"Levy!" Everyone from the yelled as they dismounted and ran to their friends.

"Guys!" Levy ran towards them too. She was wearing clothing that was similar to Wendy's, even though she had added her own flair to it. It was Levy…

As the excitement that was permeating the air decreased slightly (but remained there), everyone started hugging everyone, laughter erupted as well as voices were raised to be heard.

Everyone was happy for being together again.

Among the commotion, it went nearly unnoticed how long it took for Natsu and Gray to greet, turning out that as they shook hands they seemingly froze, staring longingly into the other's eyes, a silent conversation going through them.

Yet, Juvia noticed it…


The team was escorted to the village once again and, on the way, they started catching up.

"So, what have you been doing?"

"I've been studying a new set of weapons, the Lost Spears of Cauleces have been quite interesting. The applications and tactics have been quite different…" Erza was saying on one side.

"I've been trying to find a way to correlate the mythos of the Ocaere people with their views of the world and I've found some fundament about how it relates to the people from Verore-" Lucy was telling Wendy.

"Oh, I've been learning some of the old and protected healing sorts that have been found and taken by the old Healers… they are such grouches!" The blue haired dragonslayer replied.

"… And then it made a big booom." Loke was gesticulating widely and grinning. "I must admit that I hadn't expected that. Thankfully we'd managed to get out of there in one piece."

"Haha, that's my kind of thing!" Natsu laughed. "I've also made some big explosions happen…"

"And the old man had your ass because of that!" Gajeel said from the back, easily waving off the glare the other threw at him. Then he looked back at Gray. "So, any new combat techniques learned?" he teased.

"I've been helping Erza with her project, actually. She decided that a historic approach was needed." He shrugged and threw a glance at Levy who was walking beside Juvia.

"Has Levy made many discoveries?" Juvia said after a stretch of time spent in silence.

"Yes, it's been really fun immersing myself in this new place. And how about you? Any exciting finding?"

"Juvia doesn't think so." And with that the conversation cut off, Levy quickly approaching Gajeel and Gray and leaving the other at the rear of the group.

Thankfully they reached the village soon enough, the conversation continuing to flow, interlocutors changing and mingling, laughter continuing to appear every now and then.

"Now, don't get too surprised, okay?" Levy suddenly said before they entered the village.

The friends exchanged glances, confused.

Why would they get surprised?

Quickly they realized the motive for surprise.

It seemed as the whole village had been touched by the festivities. Everywhere there were flowers and lights, both the streets and houses had been adorned by them. And people from every street they crossed would greet them amiably. The sweet scent of the flowers was permeating the village.

But they didn't have much time to dwell in that because they were taken to the same house from before where the chief welcomed them with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes as well as a beaming smile.

"Welcome back, my friends. I hope you've had a good travel. We're going to escort you to your rooms now so that you may freshen up a little and get some rest for today is going to be a great day still." And with that, the dragonslayers led them to the rooms that they'd been appointed to one year before.

"As you notice, these are the rooms from before. You'll be here once again." Wendy waved distractedly towards the doors as they entered the corridor – Gajeel and Levy had left them moments earlier. "As it was already mentioned, you should relax, freshen up and get some rest before preparing to the celebration."

"And now we better go too. Duty is calling. We'll see you all later, yeah?" Natsu interjected, grabbing Wendy's hand and starting to drag her towards the other end of the corridor.

"We'll come see you later!" Wendy said with a giggle.

And with that everyone from the team shared a look before entering their own rooms and being left to their own devices.


Gray entered his room and collapsed on top of the bed with a big sigh.

He felt tired. Not only because of the whole travelling they'd done to get to this place but also because of him. Him, him, him… it was always him.

Seeing Natsu and not allowing himself to talk to him had been tiring. There was so much he wanted to say, so much he wanted to return to – even though he knew that he couldn't.

After a few moments of just staring at the ceiling and trying to ease his breathing, Gray sat up on the bed. For now he better get the dust from the road off, as it wouldn't be becoming to be in the celebration in his traveling attire. And he was also feeling too hot. Somehow he seemed to have forgotten how hot it was in the village. Not that it was surprising, after all, it was the desert.

Gray went to the adjoining bathroom and quickly freshened up, before going to the room next door – Erza's room. She welcomed him in and they chatted for a few moments before Erza shooed him away as they had to get ready for the ceremony which happened during the sunset.

Wendy and Natsu knocked on their doors and so the group was led to the main hall – which was filled to the brim, with people spilling outside. From beyond the mass of people, it was possible to notice that the lights lining the outside were being lit and giving an ethereal glow to the world.

At long last, the ceremony began.

Levy and Gajeel were standing in their formal clothes in front of the chief who was saying an old prayer in a long forgotten language that made Gray's heart ache.

It was a simple, if symbolic, ritual. They had their wrists tied together by a ribbon that held a myriad of colours, each symbolizing something – it diverged from place to place – they had their hands clasped together in a sign of trust and strength as well as the beginning of a life together.

It was pretty.

And, as the formal bit of the ceremony ended, the party began – well, the meal began.

Music started to be played as people sat down in the assigned places and with food starting to reach the tables.

Gray, his friends and Natsu and Wendy sat at the same table, close to the small main table. Those who held a higher standing were also able to sit at the tables in the main hall – the rest of the people would enjoy the meal outside the walls.

The intensity of the music grew, as did the flow of food and drink. It didn't take long for the conversation to fill the table once again.

Gray looked up and saw that Levy was nearly glowing, sitting beside the tall dragonslayer. He couldn't help but wish her well.

Those momentary thoughts distracted him from the main distraction… he was sitting beside Natsu and they were both making a concerted effort to not interact with the other.

Though both knew that trying to avoid the inevitable was for naught. So, they started talking. At first it was just about things that could be considered somewhat neutral, how they'd been, what they'd done, and the sort. Still, there was an underlying tension crackling in the air between them.

For, the feelings they shared were burning hotter than ever.

And there would be no stop until they consumed everything.


After long hours of conversation and food, people started to dance, a space having been cleared up to become the dancefloor. There was a lot of people dancing and it wasn't hard for Juvia to catch Natsu momentarily alone – he'd been like stuck to Gray's hip since the meal had started! – and taking the chance to drag him from the main hall and into a sconce. Said sconce was placed somewhere where the noise from the hall wasn't as overwhelming and where, at the same time, they wouldn't be heard.

"You will stay away from Gray." She told him in a determined voice, one finger poking Natsu on the chest.

There was a pause, the dragonslayer arching an eyebrow.

"Why?" was the simple answer.

"Because! You will stay away from him – or else." She took a step back, arms crossing and throwing him a venomous glare.

Once more, the dragonslayer paused.

"No." He replied, unconcerned. Then he pushed past her and returned to the merriment of the party and, probably, to find Gray.

Juvia was left, sputtering and furious, alone in the alcove.

When she regained her wits, she took a breath and smiled, a tinge of sadism in it.

"You've chosen or else, dragonslayer… very well then…" her eyes narrowed in the direction the other had taken. She didn't notice the faint red smoke that surrounded her.